Will Carradine's injury impact draft status?

There is never a good time to suffer a season-ending injury. But perhaps the worst time of all is at the end of the season, with the NFL draft looming.

Now we are left to wonder what happens to Florida State defensive end Cornellius "Tank" Carradine come April. Carradine tore his ACL against Florida on Saturday and will require months of rehab. What happens to potential work at the NFL combine, or at Florida State pro day next year?

And, what happens to his draft stock? Carradine was rated the No. 15 overall prospect available before he got hurt, and the No. 1 senior prospect at defensive end by Mel Kiper. Kevin Weidl of Scouts Inc. weighed in on this unanswered question, writing earlier this week:

He was in the first-round mix before the injury, but given that Carradine has less than one year of tape as a starter and will not be able to work out for scouts during the predraft process he's likely to fall into the day 3 range.

Before the injury, Carradine was rated higher than teammate Brandon Jenkins, who missed nearly the entire season with a foot injury. Jenkins has already decided to forgo his senior season for the NFL draft.

Though Weidl seems pessimistic about Carradine's draft prospects, coach Jimbo Fisher believes his star player will be just fine.

"It'll rehab and that won't effect those guys much at all," Fisher said Sunday. "Maybe a round at the most. But he's sad and he's down because he can't be with his teammates. But I think he'll still play in the NFL and be very highly drafted."